There is an increasing interest in unveiling the dynamics of parasite infection. Understanding the interaction patterns, and determinants of host-parasite association contributes to filling knowledge gaps in both community and disease ecology. Despite being targeted as a relevant group for conservation efforts, determinants of the association of amphibians and their parasites in broad scales are poorly understood. Here we describe parasite biodiversity in South American amphibians, testing the influence of host body size and geographic range in helminth parasites species richness (PSR). We also test whether parasite diversity is related to hosts’ phylogenetic diversity. Results showed that nematodes are the most common anuran parasites. Host-parasite network has a nested pattern, with specialist helminth taxa generally associated with hosts that harbour the richest parasite faunas. Host size is positively correlated with helminth fauna richness, but we found no support for the association of host geographic range and PSR. These results remained consistent after correcting for uneven study effort and hosts’ phylogenic correlation. However, we found no association between host and parasite diversity, indicating that more diversified anuran clades not necessarily support higher parasite diversity. Overall, considering both the structure and the determinants of PRS in anurans, we conclude that specialist parasites are more likely to be associated with large anurans, which are the ones harbouring higher PSR, and that the lack of association of PSR with hosts’ clade diversification suggests it is strongly influenced by ecological and contemporary constrains.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil;Faculdade de Computação, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil;UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Parasitologia, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil;UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Parasitologia, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil;Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil
Recommended Citation:
Karla Magalhães Campião,Augusto Cesar de Aquino Ribas,Drausio Honorio Morais,et al. How Many Parasites Species a Frog Might Have? Determinants of Parasite Diversity in South American Anurans[J]. PLOS ONE,2015-01-01,10(10)